Former DU star Paul Stastny of the Avalanche was introduced to the ice during a TV timeout midway through the first period, donning his U.S. Olympic sweater and silver medal. Amid a standing ovation, he stripped down to expose his 60th anniversary DU jersey.

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Tonight, the regular-season and series finale at the Colorado Springs World Arena, 7 p.m.

END SECOND PERIOD, CC 2-1

CC broke a 1-1 tie on the power play 16:03 of the second period _ 1:07 after Cody Brookwell was sent to the penalty box for tripping. Tigers senior Bill Sweatt capitalized, tapping in a cross-crease feed from captain Mike Testwuide.

The goal ruined the momentum DU forged after being outplayed in the first period but tying it at 1 early into the second period. Defenseman Patrick Wiercioch got the equalizer 1:05 into the period, taking a circle-to-circle pass from Rhett Rakhshani and beating goalie Joe Howe with a wrist shot.

PREGAME, 6:49 p.m.

Students are filing into Magness Arena donning free white T-shirts and deflated thunder sticks adorn every seat. A national documentary company is here working on a DU-CC rivalry piece. They wanted 10 minutes of my time but I could have given them an hour. Before I spoke on camera, I thought about things I could offer since I was blessed with this college hockey gig in 1995. Some of my best memories:

2. March 3-4, 2005. Top-ranked CC wins 3-0 in the Springs to clinch at least a share of the MacNaughton Cup. The Tigers celebrate with the Cup afterward. Next night, and in the final game of the regular season, DU wins 5-0 at Magness Arena to tie the Tigers for the WCHA crown. The Pioneers celebrate with the Cup afterward. It was surreal. The rivarly doesn’t play favorites. This time, it wanted both teams to celebrate. Two weeks later, WCHA top-seeded DU beats CC 1-0 at the WCHA Final Five title game in St. Paul. Two weeks after that, DU beats CC 6-2 in the semifinals of the Frozen Four in Columbus, Ohio. It was the first Frozen Four meeting between the teams, and DU goes on to down North Dakota for its second consecutive NCAA title — a day after CC’s Marty Sertich edges linemate Brett Sterling for the Hobey Baker Award.

3. Dec. 5, 2009. CC captain Mike Testwuide, the younger brother of 2008-09 DU captain J.P. Testwuide, completes his first career hat trick to rally the Tigers to a 4-4 tie at Magness Arena. Two days later, I call J.P., who is playing pro hockey in Houston, and he tells me how thrilled he was about the outcome. His quote went something like this: “DU knows I love everyone in that locker room, but blood is thicker than water.” The Testwuides from Vail have revolutionized this series by adding a human element nobody can argue with. Doesn’t matter if you’re a DU fan or a CC fan. You have to love the bond between the brothers.

If I had a fourth favorite, it would probably be one of those epic series just after the World Arena opened in the late 1990s, and DU was playing at McNichols Sports Arena. But for right now, I gotta run.

The lineups:

As expected, DU is again going with seven D and 11 forwards. That’s been the case since junior center Jesse Martin was hurt in Game 1 at North Dakota on Jan. 29.